Section 319
NONPOINT SOORCE PROGRAM SUCCESS STORY
Implementing Management Practices Reduces Bacteria/
W3terbodv ImDrOVed Bailing septic systems and runoff from agricultural lands con-
" ' '' r " "' tributed high counts of fecal coliform bacteria to Virginia's
Willis River, impairing recreational uses. As a result, the Virginia Department of Environmental
Quality (DEQ) added portions of the Willis River to Virginia's 1996 Clean Water Act (CWA)
section 303(d) list of impaired waters. Through the joint efforts of the Virginia Department
of Conservation and Recreation (OCR) and the Peter Francisco Soil and Water Conservation
District (PFSWCD) and other stakeholders, landowners implemented various agricultural and
residential best management practices (BMPs) as part of a total maximum daily load (TMDL)
implementation project. Water quality improved, prompting DEQ to remove three segments
(34.71 miles total) of the Willis River from Virginia's CWA section 303(d) list of impaired waters
in 2006 and 2008.
Problem
The Willis River flows through Virginia's
Buckingham and Cumberland counties (Figure 1),
approximately 60 miles west of Richmond, and
empties into the James River. The Willis River's
watershed land uses consist of forest (75 percent),
agricultural (21 percent), urban (1 percent), wet-
lands (2 percent) and water (1 percent).
In 1996 DEQ placed the Willis River on Virginia's
1996 CWA section 303(d) list because of violations
of the fecal coliform water quality standard. The
original 1996 impaired segment of the Willis River
stretched from the confluence with the James
River upstream to Reynolds Creek (14.53 miles).
The segment was extended in 2004 to include
the entire Willis River from the headwaters to the
mouth (61.34 miles). The fecal coliform TMDL for
the Willis River was completed in 2002. In 2005
OCR and PFSWCD, with input from other stakehold-
ers, completed a TMDL implementation plan and
began a 5-year implementation project to reduce
fecal coliform levels in the river by implementing
agricultural and residential BMPs.
Project Highlights
Residential and agricultural conservation successes
have largely been the result of partnerships between
the PFSWCD and several agencies including OCR,
DEQ, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Farm Bureau,
Cattlemen's Association, and the U.S. Department
Willis River Watershed: Cumberland & Buckingham Counties
James
Willis River watershed
/ /\/ Major Roads
County Boundaries
Figure 1. Map of the Willis River watershed.
of Agriculture's (USDA) Natural Resources
Conservation Service (NRCS). The partners held
numerous tours promoting the agricultural and
residential BMPs offered under the TMDL imple-
mentation plan, presented at civic clubs throughout
the watersheds, mailed postcards advertising the
program, made personal contacts with farmers and
residents, and hosted meetings updating the com-
munity about water quality improvements.
Since the beginning of the project in July 2005
(through June 30, 2009), landowners installed 54
agricultural practices (Figure 2). Practices installed
include a dairy loafing lot management system,
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Figure 2. Willis River landowners installed
numerous BMPs, such as stream crossings
(top) and alternative water sources (bottom).
alternative water systems, composting facilities,
animal waste storage, livestock stream exclusion
with grazing land protection systems, and riparian
buffers. For example, landowners added 168,960
feet (32 miles) of fencing that created more than
129 acres of buffers and prevented approximately
3,944 head of livestock from accessing streams or
farm ponds. Landowners also improved approxi-
mately 1,780 acres of pastureland. For the residen-
tial BMP program, PFSWCD helped homeowners
implement numerous septic projects to date,
including 14 septic tank pump outs, four septic
system repairs, and four septic system replace-
ments. Of the four replacements, one is complete
and three more are under contract.
Results
Partners estimate that the new BMPs installed in
the Willis River watershed significantly reduced
nonpoint source pollution loads reaching the Willis
River (Table 1). In addition, DEQ monitors water
quality at several stations throughout the water-
shed as part of the agency's ambient monitoring
program. Analysis of data from several sites has
shown that implementing BMPs reduced bacteria
levels, allowing three stream segments, totaling
34.71 miles, to attain water quality standards for
primary contact recreation.
Before 2008, the bacteria standard required that
fecal coliform bacteria levels be less than 400 col-
ony forming units (cfu) per 100 milliliters (ml) of
water and that less than 10.5 percent of all samples
exceed 400 cfu/100 ml. For the assessment period
Table 1. Total load reductions* of bacteria,
sediment and nutrients in the Willis River for
July 2005 through June 2009 (years 1 through 4
of the TMDL implementation project)
Parameter
Estimated
load
Fecal coliform
(cfu/lOOmL)
1.135E+16
Sediment
(tons)
20.79
Phosphorus
(pounds)
612.0
Nitrogen
(pounds)
1,592.4
* The load reductions in this table are considered edge-of-field
and are not indicative of in-stream load reductions
2000-2004, data from a monitoring station at
the mouth of the Willis River show that the river
attained the applicable fecal coliform bacteria stan-
dard. On the basis of those results, DEQ removed
two segments (18.03 miles total) from the 2006 list
of impaired waters for fecal coliform.
In 2008 the bacteria standard changed. The new
standard requires that Escherichia coli bacteria
levels in single sample results must be less than
235 cfu/100 ml of water and that no more than
10.5 percent of all samples may exceed 235 cfu/
100 ml. DEQ reviewed recent data using the new
standard and found that samples now meet the
water quality standard for £ coli on another
16.68-mile segment of the Willis River. As a result,
DEQ removed that additional segment from the
2008 impaired waters list for £ coli.
Partners and Funding
The PFSWCD agreed to oversee both the agricul-
tural and residential programs during the TMDL
implementation project. PFSWCD received funding
for a full-time staff position to work with landowners
in the project area. Several partners contributed to
the success of the project including PFSWCD, OCR,
DEQ and the NRCS. Almost $1.6 million supported
the project for the first four years. That included
approximately $1,023,608 in U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency CWA section 319 funds adminis-
tered by OCR—$100,000 of which funded staff who
manage the implementation project and $923,000
of which supported installing BMPs. Other funds
included $158,903 from the USDA Environmental
Quality Incentive Program (EQIP), another $60,079
from a combination of state cost-share and EQIP
funds, and $56,578 from the USDA Conservation
Reserve Enhancement Program. In addition to
federal funds, the farmers and residents contributed
an estimated $317,000 as their share of the cost to
install BMPs.
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PR
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA841-F-10-001J
April 2010
For additional information contact:
Kyle Bolt
TMDL Conservation Specialist
Peter Francisco Soil and Water
Conservation District
434-983-4757 • kyle.bolt@va.nacdnet.net
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